Senior Supreme Court lawyer Rohinton F Nariman will be the new solicitor general of India, the second highest ranking law officer of the government after the attorney general.

Senior Supreme Court lawyer Rohinton F Nariman will be the new solicitor general of India, the second highest ranking law officer of the government after the attorney general.

Law minister Salman Khurshid has recommended the name of Nariman, 55, following the protest resignation of Gopal Subramanium from the post, earlier this month.

"Only one name - that of Mr Nariman has been recommended to the Prime Minister's Office. Media speculations about four names being shortlisted were incorrect," said a ministry official.

A formal notification about Nariman will be issued after the clearance of his name by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) soon, said the official."

The appointment will be for a period of three years, effective from the date on which the notification will be issued.

Rohinton Nariman, son of eminent jurist Fali S Nariman was the youngest lawyer to be designated a senior advocate at the age of 37 years, in 1993.

Nariman, who has appeared in many important cases, shot into national limelight when telecom minister Kapil Sibal chose him over Subramanium to defend the government against an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court alleging favours to a corporate house.

Subramanium resigned in protest against Sibal's decision and did not take it back despite appeals from the Prime Minister and former law minister M Veerappa Moily.

Subramanium, who served as a government law officer for six years - first as an Additional Solicitor General from 2005 to 2009, and was later elevated as Solicitor General in 2009 till he quit this month - had stated he had taken the extreme step to protect the dignity of his post. Nariman has been appearing in various constitutional and corporate cases in the Supreme Court and high courts.

He argued for Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) along Harish Salve in the dispute over the supply and pricing of gas from KG basin between the Ambani brothers.